A Great Tallent - Garry Tallent at the Magic Bag, April 25, 2017


Garry Tallent at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, MI. April 25, 2017
I confess: When I think of Garry Tallent, I am inevitably reminded of Bruce Springsteen's long-time introduction for him: "This man comes from a long line of talents: His mother was a talent! His father was a talent! His great grandfather was a great great talent!"

That's Garry Tallent, sideman, Bruce's longest-term bandmate. Tuesday night, for the first time I got to see Garry step out to sing at the front mic, play lead guitar (who knew?) and lead a band. He's on tour supporting his album "Break Time", and he's pretty darn good in all of those roles.

Garry has put together a first-rate 7 piece band, and he gave each band member space to take lead in spots. If you're hoping to hear a lot of Springsteen covers, forget it; there's only one in the setlist. They weren't missed; by the time of Garry's 3rd song, "Ooh La La," the show had taken off. "Hillbilly Train" (see below) featured Mark Whitaker on stand-up bass.

The setlist of about 2 dozen songs combined Garry's originals with instrumental and rockabilly covers, ranging from Chuck Berry ("Brown-Eyed Handsome Man") to the Ventures ("Walk Don't Run") and Buddy Holly ("Crying, Waiting, Hoping"). Garry introduced the songs, often sprinkling in humorous tidbits. He introduced "Charlene" by noting it had been a "coolest song in the world" on Little Steven's Underground Garage, but that he "had an inside connection." For "From Small Things," he noted that Clarence had routinely requested it, and that Garry wondered if it "was because there was no saxophone, so he got to take a rest." About all the evening could have used, really, was a few more paying customers. This show deserves it.

After the show, Garry graciously signed autographs for whoever wanted; when I presented a copy of Southside Johnny's "Messing With the Blues" album that Garry produced, he exclaimed, "so you're the one who bought it!" He also answered a question my bass-playing son had for him: "Jazz or precision?"

Garry haas 10 more show dates in the northeast US before heading over to England. See it if you can!
Location: 22920 Woodward Ave, Ferndale, MI 48220, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Name Day

Image
We went down to the courthouse Wednesday morning, and the judge issued the order: As of this day, which is also our second child's 18th birthday, our child shall be known as Ezra Stanley. We filed the order with the clerk, ordered the new birth certificates, and save for some administrative details, it's done. Name Day! The old name is sealed. It's still in the records, it's in this blog . This is the same person who once had a bat mitzvah, the same person who sang and danced with Bruce Springsteen , the same person who swore that unicorns are real and that they eat unicorn food. I will leave those bits of history untouched. This is also the same person who has made art under the old name and new, and the same person who made a mess of our kitchen while we were away on Tuesday, leaving us to discover the concealed chocolate disaster zone. The shift between what was and what is... in some ways that was very slow, and in some ways it was sudden. There were behavio...
Read more

A note from Youngstown... by request

Image
Since starting this blog, blogger says I've created 138 entries.  Some are just pictures or quips, some are writings, and some probably have links that need to be replaced.  But in some way they were all original works.  Except, however, for this intro and a couple of the pictures to follow, this one is from Scott Williams, a young man from the Youngstown, Ohio, area.  Scott attended Bruce Springsteen shows in Auburn Hills  and  Cleveland , found my email address (along with btx and a few others), and sent this report. And, Scott:  Yes, "Youngstown" totally rocked. Greetings! Recently I had the most amazing day of my life! Since it was spring break, a teacher friend and I wanted to see if we could get another concert show under our belts before the summer (we were also going to Cleveland the following week). Since we didn't have to worry about school, we knew we had the whole day to work with, and seeing as the only concer...
Read more

Springsteen & the E Street Band: Columbus, April 21, 2024

Image
Springsteen in Columbus, April 21, 2024 There are times when words and pictures really can't do justice to the thing just witnessed. For example, a total eclipse of the sun . Or when Bruce Springsteen gets really good.  And now, within an easy drive to Ohio, I've been blessed to experience both of these in a span of less than two weeks. Bruce was originally scheduled to play Columbus on March 9, 2023, but it was postponed to September 21st due to an undisclosed illness. All three of the March shows rescheduled to September were then rescheduled again when Bruce's peptic ulcer disease forced postponement of all 2023 shows after September 3rd. The Columbus show last night was the final make-up date. Solo all night. Columbus, April 21, 2024 Nothing against last year's shows: I went to three of them consecutively, and I had a great time. But the setlists were static, the ticket prices were high, and despite the high  performance  quality, the shows seemed somehow less than ...
Read more